Production of type matrices



Patented Nov. 17, 1925.

FRANK HINMAN PIERPONT, 0F SALFORD, ENGLAND,

TYPE MACHINE COMPANY, OF PHILADELPHIA,

TION OF VIRGINIA.

Assrenon TO LANSTON MONO- PENNSYLVANIA, A oonroaa- PRODUCTION OF TYTPE MATRICES.

N0 Drawing.

To all whom 2'25 may concern:

Be it known that I, FRANK. HINMAN PIER- PONT, a citizen of the United States, residing at Salford, Horley, in the county of Surrey, England, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in the Production of Type-Matrices; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same.

This invention relates to the production of justified type matrices and refers to matrices the character or other formative cavity in which is produced by stamping, driving or punching into a blank matrix, which may be of any suitable metal such as copper, two sides at least of which serve as gages for positioning the matrix relatively to a type mold and one surface of which serves as a gage for determining the depth' of the drive or the height of the printing surface. The invention relates particularly to matrices of the well-known kind used in connection with a type casting machine, such as is manufactured and sold by Lanston Monotype Machine Company, the basic features of such commercial machine being disclosed in United States Letters Patent No. 625,998, dated May 30, 1899. The invention relates particularly to sorts matrices for such machine, these matrices being used singly for the purpose of. casting type bodies of say from fourteen to forty-eight points. These last mentioned matrices are usually of rectangular form and in practice the drive. or punching is completed in a. single: stroke of the punch. The punches employed vary considerably in area and form according to the character or symbol thereon, and the character faces 011 the punch are universally fiat, while the sides thereof aremore or less diverging. The punches are of parallelepiped form and the character or other" symbol is formed. or cut on one end conveniently by the use of a punch cutting machine and in gaged relation to certainof the sides; and the distance from the surface ofthe character to the rear end of the. punch is care fully determined.

The degree of pressure required tosinkthe punch to the desired depth into the. matrix blank is very considerable and may be as great as fifty tons. The blank matrix during the punching is surrounded by a heavy Application filed. January 25, 1924.

Serial No. 688,607.

solid steel die containing an opening of exact predetermined dimensions. into which opening the blank and the punch fit and are guided to move longitudinally. The amount of metal in the matrix blank to be displaced by the punch varies in accordance with the nature of the character to be punched and. is in all cases considerably more than can be taken up within the matrix by compression; moreover the pressure is so great that the steel die expands slightly with the result that when the matrix is removed from the press its surfaces are not true surfaces but they have been distorted or upset so that the matrix is no longer an accurately shaped body, sides, back and face, all presenting roughened, undulated or distorted surfaces. F or these reasons, the matrix cannot be justified by the employment of its side, back or front surfaces for gaging purposes The use of the surfaces in the character cavity, which are accurate, being produced by the character-forming surfaces of the punch, is diflicult and expensive.

The chief object of the present invention is to provide a comparatively simple, rapid. and accurate method for justifying matrices of the kind referred to in which the punch While positioned in the character cavity is utilized as a gage.

In accordance with the present inventio-i'i, the punch and matrix are. removed from the press as one,- or as a single body, or piece, this being easily accomplished because the metal of the matrix surrounding the character cavity holds the punch in place with considerable firmness; even if separated they maybe readily assembled into a single piece, in which case they will fit together accurately and will hold together for purposes. of justification operations.

While the punch is positioned in the matrix cavity, two of the adjacent sides of the punch which are at right angles to each other are employed to position, or to determine the position of the matrix relatively to cutters or other devices for removing any displaced or superfluous metal from two of the opposite sides of the matrix with the result that these two sidesofthe matrix- Will be made parallel with or in line with the corresponding sides of the punch and parallel with one another. The character cavity of the matrix will then have the same relation to these two sides of the matrix as the character portion of the punch has to the corresponding sides of the body of the punch. When the superfluous metal has been removed and two sides of the matrix body have been thus justified, the superfluous metal may be removed in a similar manner from the remaining two sides. At this stage the character cavity has been j ustified in relation to the four sides of the matrix body and it is next necessary to justify the face of the matrix to insure that the face of the character will be at right angles to the walls of the body and so secure a precise and accurate depth of drive so that a type 'of accurate height may be cast from the matrix.

The punch is again used as a gage and a cutter or equivalent device is employed to remove superfluous or displaced metal from the rear surface of the matrix thus making the surface of the matrix parallel with the end of the punch and with the surface of the character or the like on the punch. The rear surface of the matrix is therefore now parallel with the surface of the character punched in the matrix. The matrix is next removed from the punch and the rear surface of the matrix is used as a gaging surface in connection with the removal of the displaced or superfluous metal on the face of the matrix, this removal being conveniently accomplished by a cutter or like device; when the front surface of the matrix has been made parallel to the rear surface, any additional superfluous metal may be removed until an accurate depth of drive has been secured since the depth of the original drive is generally greater than is required in a finished matrix.

The face of the matrix being thus made parallel to the back and the depth of drive justified, any further superfluous metal may be removed from the rear surface of the matrix to reduce the thickness of the matrix body to standard dimensions.

The invention is not to be restricted to any particular mechanism for removing the superfluous or displaced metal. In carrying out the invention it has been found convenient for the removal of the metal from two sides of the matrix to place the punch and matrix upright so that the matrix stands above the punch with its rear surface uppermost. Two sides of the punch are placed against a right-angled or other appropriate stop and locked in position by a suitable clamping device. Additional steadiness to prevent accidental displacement by the cutters, may be provided by a pressure or c amping device bearing against the center portion of the uppermost surface of the matrix. The cutters are then operated to remove the displaced metal from the two opposite sides of the matrix. The base or flat end of the punch is rested upon a stop or block which is also in gaged relation to suitable surface cutters, and acting conjointly with these cutters are two cutters which remove the superfluous mctal from a strip along two edges of the rear surface of the matrix. When this metal has been removed, the punch is rotated through forty-five degrees and then again locked against the stop. The cutters are again operated to remove metal from the two remaining sides of the matrix and the surface cutters to remove the metal from the two remaining edges of the rear surface.

The matrix may then be removed from the punch and as part of the rear surface has now been made true and parallel with the base of the matrix cavity, the matrix can be laid on a flat surface or stop which engages the parts of the rear surface from which the metal has been removed so that a cutter can be passed over the front surface of the matrix to remove the superfluous metal from that surface. hen a certain amount of metal has been removed from the front face of the matrix the matrix cavity is then gaged in any suitable and well-known manner to determine the depth of the drive, and the cutter may again be employed, if

necessary, to remove further metal in order to obtain an accurate depth of drive. After this metal has been removed, the matrix may be gaged for tlnckness and the cutter employed to remove the remaining metal on the 1 rear surface, first of all removing the portion of superfluous metal at the center of the rear surface which has not yetbeen dealt with. The matrix has now been justified in all its dimensions, and for determining these, the punch has been employed as a gage.

I claim:

1. The improvement in the art of producing justified type matrices which consists in driving a punch into a matrix blank, and

thereafter, while the punch is positioned in the matrix cavity thus formed, cutting a surface of the matrix by cutting mechanism gaged by a surface of the punch.

2. The improvement in the art of produc ing justified type matrices which consists in driving a punch into a matrix blank, and thereafter, while the punch is positioned in the matrix cavity thus formed, removing displaced or superfluous metal from one or more side surfaces of the matrix, the removing mechanism being gaged by surfaces of the punch.

3. The improvement in the art of producing justified type matrices which consists in driving a punch into a matrix blank, and thereafter, while the punch is positioned in the matrix cavity thus formed, removing displaced or superfluous metal from two sides of the matrix, the removing mechanism pun ch.

FRANK HINMAN PIERPONT.

driving a punch into amatrix blank, and thereafter while the punch is positioned in the matrix cavity thus formed, cuttingside and rear surfaces of the matrix, the cutting mechanism being gaged by surfaces of the 

